US tax for Americans in Vietnam
A US–Vietnam income tax treaty was signed in 2015 but has not entered into force, so no treaty relief is available today. Vietnamese personal income tax is progressive to 35% and creditable, there is no totalization agreement, and US self-employment tax applies in full — which matters because so many Americans here are contracted rather than employed.
Signed is not in force
A treaty signed in 2015 has not completed ratification, and an unratified treaty gives nothing: no treaty position to claim, no reduced withholding, no tie-breaker for residence and no article to allocate income. Anyone telling you otherwise is reading the signature page rather than the status.
What is available is the ordinary foreign tax credit under domestic US law, for Vietnamese personal income tax actually paid. That works without a treaty — the credit is statutory — but it is all there is.
Residence decides how much Vietnamese tax there is to credit
Vietnam treats someone as tax resident on days present — 183 or more in a calendar year or in twelve consecutive months from arrival — or on having a permanent residence in the country. Residents are taxed on worldwide income at progressive rates to 35%; non-residents are taxed at a flat rate on Vietnam-sourced employment income.
Which side of that line you fall on changes the Vietnamese tax paid and therefore the credit available on the US return. It does not change the US filing obligation, which follows citizenship.
Contractors carry the real cost
Manufacturing, sourcing and teaching are the common postings here, and a large share of Americans are self-employed or contracted through an offshore entity. With no totalization agreement, 15.3% self-employment tax applies to net earnings whatever the exclusion does to income tax.
Being paid by a company outside Vietnam does not settle it either. What matters is whether the arrangement is employment or self-employment for US purposes — a characterisation question that decides the SECA exposure and is worth answering early.
Vietnamese social insurance is not a creditable tax
A foreign national with a work permit and a labour contract of twelve months or more joins Vietnam's compulsory social and health insurance, contributing roughly 9.5% of salary with the employer contributing more.
Those are insurance contributions, not income taxes. They do not go on Form 1116, they do not reduce foreign earned income, and with no totalization agreement they buy no relief from US self-employment tax. They are a real cost with no US offset.
A worked example, tax year 2025
A single American employed by a Vietnamese company in Ho Chi Minh City on salary equivalent to $80,000, with $12,000 of Vietnamese personal income tax and compulsory insurance withheld at about 9.5%.
Scroll the table sideways
IRC §901, §904, §911, §1401 and §1402; IRS Publication 54; IRS Publication 514; Social Security Administration totalization agreement list; Vietnamese Law on Personal Income Tax residence rules; Vietnamese compulsory social and health insurance rules for foreign employees on contracts of twelve months or more; Rev. Proc. 2025-32; 31 CFR 1010.350. US figures are tax year 2025. Checked 22 September 2026.
Questions Americans in Vietnam ask
Is there a US–Vietnam tax treaty I can rely on?
No. One was signed in 2015 but it has not entered into force, so there is no treaty relief to claim. You credit the Vietnamese tax you actually pay under ordinary US rules, which works without a treaty.
I am contracted through a company outside Vietnam. Does that change my US position?
It can change the character of the income and whether it is self-employment income, which decides the 15.3% SECA question. It rarely changes the obligation to file, which follows citizenship rather than payroll.
Are my Vietnamese social insurance contributions creditable?
No. A foreign employee on a contract of twelve months or more contributes about 9.5% of salary to compulsory social and health insurance. Those are insurance contributions rather than income taxes, so they are not creditable, and they do not relieve US self-employment tax.
How does Vietnam decide whether I am resident?
On days present — 183 or more in a calendar year or in twelve consecutive months from arrival — or on having a permanent residence in Vietnam. Residents are taxed on worldwide income at progressive rates; non-residents at a flat rate on Vietnam-sourced employment income.
I have not filed for several years while in Vietnam. What now?
If the failure was non-willful — which describes most people in this position — the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures waive the failure-to-file, failure-to-pay and FBAR penalties: three years of returns, six years of FBARs, and Form 14653.
Working or teaching in Vietnam?
Twenty minutes settles whether you are employed or self-employed for US purposes, and what that costs.